Untitled Neko Fic: Trowa's Tail
by Dragoni
Summary: A response to a challenge by my friend tyrne_j ... Trowa as... a cat?


Untitled Neko Fic: Trowa's Tail  
  
  
"... The main outfitting office called today. The latest shipment has not yet arrived, and they're worried that continued operations may be jeopardized by..." The tall red-headed assistant shifted his glasses further up his nose, shuffling papers full of statistics from the company's operations satellites.  
  
Quatre Raberba Winner lounged in his chair, back to the other man, eyes intent on the orchard that lay just outside the giant window. The sun was shining on the leaves, making them seem almost alive with the lazy shifting shadows of early summer. Small, colorful birds flitted from tree to another, chirping the music of the afternoon to whatever happened to pass by.  
  
"... Mr. Winner? Sir!" The assistant's crisp voice interrupted his thoughts. Business reports. They grew so... boring... on days like this. The blonde turned, trying to draw his mind back to the tasks at hand.  
  
A loud noise from just outside the window drew his attention again as a few small garden creatures began fighting over their territorial bounds. He blinked a moment and sighed. He had absolutely *no* recollection what this report was about. The assistant, seeing he had regained the young heir's attention, plunged back into his report...  
  
Or meant to, anyway. Quatre stood suddenly, turning back to the window. "It's such a beautiful day today, Taka... Come on." The young blonde was to the door before his confused associate could make a sound.  
  
"But, Mr. Winner," he turned at the sound of his name, a quizzical look over his features. "I... The report..."  
  
He stamped his foot impatiently. "So bring it along."  
  
"Where are we going?" Taka cast a disapproving glance at the young tycoon. One of these days, they were going to have to curb these irresponsible desires.   
  
A boyish laugh and Quatre was out the door, trusting the older man to follow. "To the garden, of course..."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"... They're asking for an increase in the spending budget of two and a half million dollars this quarter..."  
  
A small, brown nut sailed through the air, landing with an audible smack on the impressive stack of papers the redhead was paging through, efficiently forcing him to lose his place. Quatre looked up from his seat under a large tree, faintly surprised by the sudden interruption.  
  
Another followed, this time striking Taka squarely on his upturned forehead, drawing a muffled curse. His eyes traced the trajectory, lighting on the branches above Quatre's head.   
  
"What is it? Do you see something?" Bright aqua eyes searched the canopy above his head, straining to see whatever had bothered his normally calm assistant.  
  
Taka shrugged, backing what he hoped was a safe distance. "No, nothing. As I was saying..." A rock flew through the air, hitting the side of his head. The older man growled in annoyance. "Mr. Winner... Surely we may retire inside again...?"   
  
His sentence was cut short as another small projectile struck the papers. Quatre's lips twitched. It was followed closely by a shot to the upper arm and another that rang sharply against his temple. The blonde's stifled giggle was reprimanded by a sharp, annoyed glance from his irate associate.  
  
One more, an acorn this time, flew through the air, landing squarely between Taka's eyes. "That is *QUITE* enough of that!" His angry shout rang through the trees, startling some of the more timid animals into flight. "If. I. *Ever*. Find. That. Creature... So help me, I will..."   
  
A soft giggle drew his angry stare from the tree. Quatre was curled up under its branches, shoulders convulsing in mirth. He glared at his employer, then back at the tree. "Sir, this is *not* amusing."  
  
Quatre nodded, eyes wide with the effort of remaining silent. He opened his mouth to speak... and shut it quickly.  
  
There, in the tree... He smiled. It was a squirrel... He blinked twice, squinting to get a better view. No... far too big to be a squirrel... Standing suddenly, he looked up at his associate's tormentor. Bright, serious green eyes stared unblinkingly back at him. "It's a cat..."  
  
Taka practically growled. "A... *Cat*?" His eyes narrowed dangerously as he approached the tree. "Here, kitty, kitty..."  
  
The creature in the tree stared at him contemptuously from where it was crouched behind a large branch. One of its eyes was covered by a large shock of hair ...Hair? Quatre's mind asked. that swept forward from the rather large, furry ears that seemed to cover half of its head. A long, elegant tail swept lazily back and forth, falling off the branch behind it.   
  
Silently, it grabbed a nut from its leafy surroundings, carelessly kicking it at the redhead. Quatre chortled.   
  
"I don't think he's going to come to you... He doesn't seem to like you very much, Taka."  
  
The older man carefully set down his papers, seething. "I will get that... that... cat..." He rolled up his sleeves, heading toward the tree. " ... If it is the last thing I do, I *will* get that cat."  
  
Quatre stared in silent disbelief as Taka - calm, serious Taka - tried to climb the tree. Surprisingly, he was quite good at it, though the blonde had no idea where his assistant would have ever picked up such a skill. He sighed. Taka had a tendency to rebuke Quatre every time the young aristocrat tried to do such things.  
  
The sight before him was quite amusing... his assistant crouching on the limb, one arm stretched toward the cat, the other holding on for dear life... The animal glaring dispassionately at him, just out of reach. The blonde laughed from the ground beneath them, garnering a glare from his assistant and a curious stare from the cat.  
  
Taking advantage of the brief distraction, Taka's arm flailed out, grabbing onto the end of the cat's tail. It jumped in surprise, quickly squirming out of the unsteady grasp and jumping to safety...  
  
Right atop Quatre's head. The momentum forced the young tycoon to the ground and unbalanced the animal, which tumbled acrobatically to the ground. Quatre stared at the animal. It had... green fur? He gently reached out a hand, touching the strangely colored creature. Not fur... but cloth? A turtleneck, to be exact.   
  
He blinked, puzzled, and brought his face down level with its own. Now that he was closer... The face was definitely human... if rather dirty. A cat-boy? A tiny pink tongue darted out, licking the tip of Quatre's nose. The aristocrat smiled in return, turning to talk to his assistant without ever taking his eyes off the creature. "I think I'm going to keep it."  
  
Taka practically fell out of the tree from shock. "But... Sir! It's a stray! Who knows where that thing has been?" He glared at the offending creature.   
  
It glanced at him sideways for a moment, then turned away to brush up against the young blonde, the picture of feline contentment. Quatre smiled silently. Definitely more a cat than a human... But there was enough intelligence behind the eyes to keep life... interesting... for a while. The smile twisted into a smirk. Especially since Taka apparantly did *not* like cats.  
  
He shrugged as it curled up on his lap, a noise strangely like a purr issuing from its - his, the blonde reminded himself - from *his* throat. "Of course I'm keeping it! I think it likes me." He smiled at the creature, now fast asleep across his legs. "I think I'll call him Trowa..."  



End file.
